Dark Eyes 4

The Doctor and Liv return to post-World War One London, where the Doctor meets Kitty Donaldson (Beth Chalmers), and Liv strikes a friendship with her brother Martin (Barnaby Kay). But what mysterious force is hunting them?

4.2 The Monster of Montmartre

The Doctor and Liv’s investigations bring them to Paris, where a monster stalks the streets.

4.3 Master of the Daleks

The Master and the Dalek Time Controller have forged an alliance. History hangs in the balance, and this time the Doctor can’t help…

4.4 Eye of Darkness

It’s the endgame. Truths will be revealed, and a hero will make the ultimate sacrifice.

1 Comment

Styre
on May 10, 2016 at 12:42 AM

DARK EYES 4

After the conclusion of the Eighth Doctor Adventures and the shift to box sets in the Dark Eyes series, Big Finish struggled to establish consistency, either tonally or thematically. While certain individual parts of the various Dark Eyes sets were excellent, the wholes never followed suit, relying on grimness and technobabble in lieu of character and drama. Finally, with the release of “Dark Eyes 4,” the final set from writers John Dorney and Matt Fitton, they find that elusive consistency – and as a result it’s easily the best set of the four.

“Dark Eyes 4” is split into four episodes, but there are really only 2.5 stories presented. The first episode, Dorney’s “A Life in the Day,” is essentially standalone, and it’s easily the best episode of any Dark Eyes release. Aiming to check up on Molly, the Doctor and Liv journey to post-war London but quickly find themselves pursued by killer androids. This is the plot, but the focus of the story is on their relationship with Martin Donaldson (Barnaby Kay), a local man slowly revealed to be trapped in a time loop. Dorney structures this perfectly: there are plenty of hints about his status, some of them even obvious in retrospect, but the revelation still comes as a surprise because he never beats the listener over the head. It’s also fascinating because this is one of (if not the) first times in Doctor Who that we’ve seen a time loop from the outside instead of seeing the Doctor and companions living through it. Furthermore, Dorney doesn’t ignore the emotional ramifications of the time loop: Martin falls in love with Liv, as he spends every day with her and varies his activities so every day presents a new date. It’s believable, it’s very human, and it’s heartbreaking, especially when the Doctor struggles to explain to Liv why Martin shouldn’t be saved. There’s nothing revolutionary about “A Life in the Day;” it’s just a smart, emotionally honest story with believable characters.

The first half of the next story, Fitton’s “The Monster of Montmartre,” is largely standalone as well, as the Doctor and Liv travel to Paris to search for the missing TARDIS and become embroiled in the Parisian criminal underground. This is a solid if unremarkable story that builds a nice sense of mystery, but it comes to a rapid halt when it crashes headlong into the arc plot. The Dalek Time Controller is back, you see, but now he is infected with retrogenitor particles and is using the Doctor’s stolen TARDIS to construct a giant Dalek in the middle of Paris. This sounds awesome, but unfortunately we never get to hear the multi-story monstrosity wreaking havoc. Instead, we get a shocking revelation that really isn’t shocking at all: the Dalek Time Controller is working with the Master!

This leads to Dorney’s third episode, with one of the greatest titles of all time: “Master of the Daleks.” Here, we journey into an alternate history in which the Master has taken over the Earth and is using the enslaved population to construct a massive war fleet with which he intends to conquer the universe. While it’s true that this time he is in an uneasy alliance with the Daleks, I’m forced to wonder if Dorney listened to “Dark Eyes 3,” in which almost the exact same thing happens. This version of the story is much better than its predecessor – the Master actually seems like a dangerous adversary, there’s a lot of good interaction between the major characters, and even the Doctor’s amnesia isn’t too irritating – but we really need to get away from “the Master builds an army to conquer the universe” stories, because that’s literally all he does anymore. Best of all, though, is the use of the Sontarans – I usually don’t go for overly fannish “what if x met y” stuff, but the Dalek-Sontaran battle is exactly as fantastic as you’d expect, and possibly even more so.

The final episode, Fitton’s “Eye of Darkness,” serves as the epic finale to the entire Dark Eyes series, and the Master is abruptly written out at the end of “Master of the Daleks” to clear the decks for the final confrontation between the Doctor and the Time Controller. Molly is reintroduced in the third episode, and (I’m guessing) due to scheduling conflicts the role is recast, with Sorcha Cusack playing an older version of the character. I’ve seen mixed reviews of Cusack’s performance but I found it nearly flawless and difficult to differentiate from Ruth Bradley. Anyway, as the focal point of the story – indeed, the subject of the title – Molly is also the one to resolve it, finally defeating both the Time Controller and the Eminence (yes) at the same time. These final scenes are very well done, giving Molly an appropriate departure that manages to be emotional without being depressing, even if the Eighth Doctor’s horrific luck with companions continues. Liv had better watch out in “Doom Coalition.”

There’s a lot to like about “Dark Eyes 4,” and Paul McGann is one of the best parts of the package. The tone is still dark, but it’s balanced by occasional moments of fun, and McGann sounds like he’s recaptured his enthusiasm for the part. Nicola Walker is fantastic as ever – I love how her quiet, sardonic nature balances out the Doctor’s natural exuberance, and how she’s such a good companion despite not fitting into the generic job description. This might be Alex Macqueen’s best performance yet as the Master – his false incredulity at the suggestion that the Daleks will betray him is absolutely hilarious. The supporting cast also includes fine performances from Rachael Stirling and Susannah Harker, and it goes without saying by now that Nicholas Briggs and Dan Starkey are fantastic as the Daleks and the Sontarans, respectively.

The production also reaches a high standard, with director Ken Bentley expertly handling the disparate elements of the script and Howard Carter’s sound design and epic, orchestral score helping to convey the emotions of the story. Overall, “Dark Eyes 4” is easily the best installment in the series, and a great way to go out. While it still gets bogged down in occasional technobabble, the scripts from Dorney and Fitton create enough interesting, compelling characters to overcome any problems. If the whole series had been like this, we’d be praising it as one of Big Finish’s best; instead, we can only hope that this bodes well for the upcoming “Doom Coalition.”